Chiefs Viewpoints of Native American leadership’s resistance to US Indian policies

Chief Joseph Chief of the Nez Perce Tribe He and his tribe surrendered to US military in the Bear Paw Mountains in 1877 Forced onto a reservation in Oklahoma At his surrender gave his “I will fight no more forever” speech

"Tell General Howard I know his heart "Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

Chief Red Cloud Chief of the Oglala Sioux Nation 1866- Red Cloud and his followers lured Captain Fetterman and his troops into an ambush Killed them all 1870- Red Cloud visited Cooper Union in New York on July 16 Gave the following speech at a reception in his honor

“Look at me. I am poor and naked, but I am the Chief of the Nation “Look at me. I am poor and naked, but I am the Chief of the Nation. We do not want riches, we do not ask for riches, but we want our children properly trained and brought up. We look to you for your sympathy. Our riches will . . . do us no good; we cannot take away into the other world anything we have - we want to have love and peace. . . . We would like to know why commissioners are sent out there to do nothing but rob [us] and get the riches of this world away from us? I was brought up among the traders and those who came out there in those early times. I had a good time for they treated us nicely and well. They taught me how to wear clothes and use tobacco, and to use firearms and ammunition, and all went on very well until the Great Father sent out another kind of men—men who drank whisky. He sent out whisky-men, men who drank and quarreled, men who were so bad that he could not keep them at home, and so he sent them out there. I have sent a great many words to the Great Father, but I don't know that they ever reach the Great Father. They were drowned on the way, therefore I was a little offended with it. The words I told the Great Father lately would never come to him, so I thought I would come and tell you myself And I am going to leave you today, and I am going back to my home. I want to tell the people that we cannot trust his agents and superintendents. I don't want strange people that we know nothing about. I am very glad that you belong to us. I am very glad that we have come here and found you and that we can understand one another. I don't want any more such men sent out there, who are so poor that when they come out there their first thoughts are how they can fill their own pockets. We want preserves in our reserves. We want honest men, and we want you to help to keep us in the lands that belong to us so that we may not be a prey to those who are viciously disposed. I am going back home. I am very glad that you have listened to me, and I wish you good-bye and give you an affectionate farewell.”

Chief Seattle Spoke in favor of environmental responsibility and respect for Native Americans’ land rights Actual date, time, location, and contents of his speech are unclear and disputed

Quanah Parker Comanche chief Led his people to a reservation in OK He assimilated and became a successful rancher Supported cooperation with whites